Post Rams Debacle Thoughts

[redwagonskins]

Anyone else kind of reminded of the Spurrier Skins by the Rams last night? I'm just saying, a couple of years ago in pre-season we put up big numbers too and that didn't translate in the regular season. Last night there were two teams with different objectives out there. The Rams needed to feel good about themselves and game planned to win. By the way, Bulger wasn't all that solid and Chandler, who was, ain't gonna start. The Skins played a lot of guys who either will man the bench or won't be here. SUre we took a shellacking but these weren't the "A" team guys. It was an opportunity to test a lot of people. Sometimes it's good to get your ass kicked, especially when it doesn't count. It fires you up.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by redwagonskins

Anyone else kind of reminded of the Spurrier Skins by the Rams last night? I'm just saying, a couple of years ago in pre-season we put up big numbers too and that didn't translate in the regular season. Last night there were two teams with different objectives out there. The Rams needed to feel good about themselves and game planned to win. By the way, Bulger wasn't all that solid and Chandler, who was, ain't gonna start. The Skins played a lot of guys who either will man the bench or won't be here. SUre we took a shellacking but these weren't the "A" team guys. It was an opportunity to test a lot of people. Sometimes it's good to get your ass kicked, especially when it doesn't count. It fires you up.

great points, I totally agree

[SmootSmack]

-Really disappointed in Ramsey so far this preseason. Wouldn't be so disappointed if I didn't think he had the potential to be great though

-Can notice a big difference when Brunell is in there. It's the experience most of all. I don't expect a big play necessarily but more imporantly I don't fear a dumb mistake

-Ralph Brown looked really bad, when is Walt Harris coming back?

-It wasn't just Brown, my man Smoot got abused by Holt.

-We gave up no sacks again, that was a nice sign

-I really liked seeing James Thrash in motion out of the backfield, not so much that but the fact there was motion in Gibbs' offense. Little by little I think we're going to start little wrinkles like that

-I guess the Rams getting whupped on Monday was the worst that could have happened to us. They really played with a huge chip on their shoulder

"Yeah, Moe, that team sure did suck last night. They just plain sucked! I've seen teams suck before, but they were the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked!"-Joe Gibbs

"Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try."-Joe Gibbs

[jbcjr14]

Originally Posted by Hogskin

My thoughts...

- Yes, Ramsey has been consistently terrible. Has shown nothing at all. I STILL wish they had traded him while he had a lot of value.

- The D-line is still a big problem - can't blame it on the offense, the DL was weak throughout. We STILL have a burning need for a good pass rusher.

- Betts is the best backup to Portis that we have. I sure hope he can get/stay healthy and make the team.

- The DB's are fine. Don't forget, there is not another Holt in the NFL, and he was really "ON" last night.

- It would have been a much, MUCH different game with Brunell from the start AND with the full playbook in use. Again, they kept it extremely basic on offense.

I agree with Hogskin. Remember, no Arrington, no Barrow, no Daniels, no Griffin. That's 4 starters on the D. If I am not mistaken, the game was 14-3 or 17-3 at the half when the defensive "starters" were yanked. Not too mention that Ramsey missed a wide open Thrash for an easy six that would have made things closer.

Relax folks, next week will be even worse with almost zero starters playing for more than a series. 0-3 or 0-4 in the regular season to start (you heard it here first) then they will run the table!!!! LOL

[RedskinPete]

Some of the blame has to go to the offense....You have to score points and run time off the clock! You CAN'T LET A TEAM LIKE THE RAMS stay on the field that amount of time! They will score! I think Chris C said it best that Smoot looked tried after being run all over the place. It was like a track meet and Ramsey and the O didn't give them time to think much less change things on the side line! In the NFL it's Time of Possesion! If you have the ball you win much more if you don't!

Originally Posted by Hogskin

My thoughts...

- Yes, Ramsey has been consistently terrible. Has shown nothing at all. I STILL wish they had traded him while he had a lot of value.

- The D-line is still a big problem - can't blame it on the offense, the DL was weak throughout. We STILL have a burning need for a good pass rusher.

- Betts is the best backup to Portis that we have. I sure hope he can get/stay healthy and make the team.

- The DB's are fine. Don't forget, there is not another Holt in the NFL, and he was really "ON" last night.

- It would have been a much, MUCH different game with Brunell from the start AND with the full playbook in use. Again, they kept it extremely basic on offense.

[Hogskin]

Originally Posted by RedskinPete

Some of the blame has to go to the offense....You have to score points and run time off the clock! You CAN'T LET A TEAM LIKE THE RAMS stay on the field that amount of time! They will score! I think Chris C said it best that Smoot looked tried after being run all over the place. It was like a track meet and Ramsey and the O didn't give them time to think much less change things on the side line! In the NFL it's Time of Possesion! If you have the ball you win much more if you don't!

hmmmmmmmmmm. I sure thought that is the same thing I was saying in the post you responded to. (problem was Ramsey, would have been different with Brunell in there, we left most of our offense behind closed doors, the DB's are going to be fine). Of course you are at an advantage if you control time of possession. But the loss is not what mattered, anyway. I was responding to guys that were in panic mode about our DB's. Again, they will be fine.

[illdefined]

Jacobs not protecting the ball after the catch is a big deal, it should be dealt with in practice. im sure he was just stoked to be out there as were we all.

vanilla offense fine. but vanilla defense? our 1st team got beat man by man, the reserve LBs were just blitzing all night, they weren't covering anybody (thats why the big runs). and there's nothing vanilla about four big guys getting past five other ("struggling") big guys to get to the quarterback. they were stood up so easily then would just quit halfway! gave them all the time in the world to pick our secondary apart. our Dline was shameful

[MTK]

Uh oh, here we go again. Let's cut everyone and demote everyone.

Jacobs looked pretty decent to me, he had 2-49 and also had one called back. Yeah the fumble didn't help him, but I think he showed enough to solidify his roster spot.

Overall they played like crap I know. But I'll let Boss Hog sum up my thoughts:

"Its only preseason," Bugel said. "Don't throw dirt on us yet."

[MTK]

Check this out from Boswell's column about Ramsey

In training camp practices Ramsey has explained how odd it feels to throw before his receiver has made his final cut. The trust between passer and receiver must be total.

Wow. That's pretty basic pro offense stuff, throwing before your receiver makes his final cut. Ramsey is basically a rookie all over again guys, Spurrier set him back a good two years with his joke of an offense.

Ramsey is a smart kid, I have no doubts that he'll pick things up with time. But for now, it's painfully obvious why Gibbs went out and got Brunell.

[Paintrain]

I watched the game live last night.. My impressions are:

-Ramsey still looks uncomfortable.. I rewound my TIVO on the passes he overthrew to Thrash in the end zone and up the sideline and he's not throwing the ball with confidence, he's almost trying to be too perfect instead of just throwing it..

-OL looked ok but I am still concerned a little by the run blocking.. Just remember that they were missing Randy Thomas and Samuels got hurt.. Even the announcers said that after Samuels got hurt it seemed like the coaches got very conservative and generic as if to just make sure everyone got out healthy. No more pulling linemen, no more play action, just dives and drop back passes..

-I liked what I saw from Gardner (actually catching the ball), Thrash (getting open even though Ramsey kept missing him) and Taylor (aside from the fumble, he was open a few times and caught the ball well).. I'm not worried about this area..

-Defensively I think we were out game-planned.. It seemed like Martz coached almost like a regular season game and although Williams blitzed a lot I don't think he disguised them as he would in the regular season.. Ralph Brown in particular looked lost all night. I'm not worried about Smoot and Springs getting toasted, they weren't bumping the WR on the line so with a clean release in man coverage any NFL WR will be that open..

Bottom line, it's preseason, that's a team who was 12-4 last year, it's preseason, we're not going to go 16-0, it's preseason, it'll be a much stronger effort with everyone in the lineup and, um, oh yeah, it's preseason.

[saden1]

-Spring is no Champ. Smoot is no Champ. These guys got abused. Bowen had is head up his ass. Tylor was decent although he got abused quite a bit too. All in all our secondary is screwed if they don't improve their play.

-Ramsey is still hesitant and flat footed. He pretty much lost the job.

-Jacobs was running well. That fumble was sure an eyesore though.

-Hope Samuels is ok.

-This game doesn't tell us much in terms of what is going to happen during the season. I mean, who the hell was that Number 22 who got abused on the TD?

[cpayne5]

I love it how all you 'fans' come on here the day after a PRESEASON loss and complain and call for heads to roll. Seems like the only time the rest of us ever hear from you guys is under these circumstances. Let the flaming begin ... lol

As for my thoughts about the game:

First off, I don't see much wrong with losing a game like this. The Rams had been embarrassed in their first 2 games. They had something to prove - we didn't. The Rams game planned against us to avenge those 2 losses. We actually held the Rams offense to no points when our first team defense was out there (minus 3 starters - Arrington, Daniels, & Barrow). The first Holt TD was against Ralph Brown, gimme a break. Torry Holt did have a big game, but when does he not? He's a special player (although I don't care too much for his taunting of Ralph Brown - there's just no place for that crap in the NFL). The point at which the broadcaster (mainly Collinsworth) started making statements about 'letting' Bailey get away, was when Holt and Co started torching our 2nd and 3rd team CBs. No, Fred and Springs didn't shut them down, but who really does? Our defensive scheme last night was pretty bland when it comes to blitzes as well. We really didn't run any stunts on the Dline or send the LBs that often, and when we did it was the backups. I think this was mainly for the coaching staff to see who could get to the QB in order to determine who makes it through first cuts.

I absolutely hate astro turf and, frankly, will take a loss like last night's over a win with a bunch of injuries any day.

Here's a quote that all the naysayers should take to heart:
"Any time you play a game like this, there is a lot to learn," Redskins cornerback Fred Smoot said. "It's the preseason. Let's go. Let's build on it. We're not going to go and panic. We're not going worry about going 0-16. We're going to learn from this.

"Point blank, we needed this."

I'll start to get worried when, after 6 games into the regular season, I don't see any improvement.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by cpayne5

"Any time you play a game like this, there is a lot to learn," Redskins cornerback Fred Smoot said. "It's the preseason. Let's go. Let's build on it. We're not going to go and panic. We're not going worry about going 0-16. We're going to learn from this. "Point blank, we needed this."

His last name is Smoot and he always knows what he's talking about, right Payne!

We'll be fine

[Gmanc711]

We played some cover 1 too, and expected Bowen to cover the entire side of the feild. In all seriousness, I mean we got burnt plenty of times, but I think that our blitzing had somthing to do with how many times we got beat. Man to man, you're gonna get beat every now and then. Man to man with Torry Holt, unless your Chris McCalister, Charels Woodson or (gulp) Champ Bailey, you're gonna get beat alot.

When breaking down the defense so far this preseason... I'm still impressed with how much better the dline is overall. They didnt show it at all last night, but we have had some nice suprises, and it wont be the killer it was last year, in my opinion. I wish Barrow would have gotten some pt, even with his injury. You gotta wonder if hes gonna be starting during hte season, cause Pierce has looked good.

[MTK]

Does anyone doubt that Holt would have seen some doubles had this been a regular season game. Don't get me wrong the guy is a great WR, top 3 in the league, but he was running wide ass open in single coverage. That kinda stuff doesn't happen in the regular season.